Loom drop wire stringing machine and method



1966' s. 1.. HUFFMAN ETAL 3,293,722

LOOM DROP WIRE STRINGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Dec. 4, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet l FIGI ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1966 s. L. HUFFMAN ETAL 3,293,722

LOOM DROP WIRE STRINGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Dec. 4, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS SAMUEL L HJFFMAN EVE/Rf K DUCKETT BY BFfiW' ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1966 s. 1.. HUFFMAN ETAL 3,29

LOOM DROP WIRE STRINGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Dec. 4, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 SAMUEL L. HUFFMAN' EVERETT K. DUCKETT BY 8 VQMU -E ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1966 s. HUFFMAN ETAL 3,293,722

|NVENTO SAMUE HUF i EVERE DUCKETT ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1966 s. L. HUFFMAN ETAL 3,293,722

LOOM DROP WIRE STRINGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Dec. 4, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 HGIOA SAMUEL L. HUFFMAN EVERETT K. DUCKETT BY a Mum;

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,293,722 LOOM DROP WIRE STRINGING MACHINE AND METHOD Samuel L. Huffman and Everett K. Duckett, Greenville,

S.C., assignors to Carolina Plating & Stamping Company, Greenville, S.C., a corporation of South Carolina Filed Dec. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 416,019 19 Claims. (Cl. 28-46) This invention relates to a machine for processing loom drop Wires and more particularly to a machine for arranging drop wires in a required manner to facilitate the use thereof upon a loom or in a drawing-in frame. The invention also pertains to a novel method of stringing or stacking drop wires.

Loom drop wires and their uses are well known in the textile weaving art. Every conventional loom utilizes a multitude of drop wires on the warp yarns which are let off from the beam. Each drop wire is a thin delicate blade-like sheet metal element which is a stamped product, usually carefully plated and dried.

There are two types of drop wires employed on each loom, commonly called up and down drop wires. These two types of drop wires derive their names from the fact that one type has a keyhole-shaped slot whose narrow end faces downwardly while the other type has a keyholeshaped slot whose narrow end faces upwardly.

When multitudes of drop wires are shipped by the manufacturer of drop wires to a mill for use upon looms or to a company which employs drawing-in machines for preparing warps for installation in looms, the drop wires to be most useful must be arranged in a certain manner. Specifically, the drop wires must be stacked and packaged in large groups and with the up drop wires arranged alternately with the down drop wires in each stack or package. This arrangement must be preserved with accuracy in order to facilitate the subsequent drawing-in operation which is well known in the art. A drawing-in machine of the type being referred to which utilizes drop wires is disclosed in United States Patent 2,230,494 to Erwin C. Kieke, issued Feb, 4, 1931. The drop wires are preferably supplied to the mills or to other users of the drawing-in machine in stacks which are about twentyfour inches in depth and with the up and down drop wires carefully alternated in each such stack. After suitable inspection, each stack is packaged for shipment to the user.

The sole purpose of the present invention machine is to effect the proper stacking of the drop wires in a highly eflicient, economical and rapid manner and with accuracy concerning the alternating arrangement. Heretofore, the stacking of the drop wires or stringing thereof has been a manual operation requiring many workers to process large numbers of stacks. The invention machine which may comprise any practical number of automatic Working units is capable of stringing or stacking vast numbers of drop wires with great accuracy and uniformity all under the watchful eye of a single attendant and in much less time than the time required for manual stacking or stringing. Consequently, the invention results in a vast saving of labor and time and therefore money.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine for stringing drop wires which is simplified in construction and operation, fully adjustable particularly at critical points, and requiring no skill to operate after the necessary adjustments are initially made.

Another object is to provide a machine having plural operating units or work stations which may all be placed into action simultaneously but also allowing one or more units to be rendered idle, as when reloading with drop wires, without interfering with the continuous operation of other units of the machine.

' tical in construction and operation,

Additional and more specific objects of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a machine for stringing or stacking drop wires according to the invention, parts omitted for simplicity of illustration;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View of the machine shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational View of the machine looking in the direction of the arrow A in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 6-6 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 7-7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged partly diagrammatic vertical cross sectional view taken in the plane of line 10-10 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 8 but showing the related parts in different operating positions from their positions in FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is a further view similar to FIGURES 8 and 9 and taken on line 10-10 of FIGURE 3 and showing still another operative relation of the parts;

FIGURE 11 is another view similar to FIGURES 8 through 10 showing the parts in a still different operative relation;

FIGURE 9a is a fragmentary elevational view taken on the direction of the arrow B in FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 10a is a similar view taken in the direction of the arrow C in FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing a portion of a stack of drop wires on a stringing bar or holder; and

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary side elevational View showing one unit or magazine positioned for reloading the drop wires.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 20 designates a main preferably wheeled support frame including spaced vertical frame ends 21 and 22 which may taper upwardly as shown in FIGURE 2. The tops of the frame ends 21 and 22 are rigidly interconnected by a horizontal frame bar 23 of required length. The bottoms of the frame ends may be further rigidly connected by a horizontal member 24 preferably at the rear of the frame.

Extending horizontally along the front of the main frame 20 and spaced outwardly therefrom is a support bar 25 or rigid construction. This 'bar is adjustably secured to screwlhreaded studs 26 which in turn are rigidly anchored to the frame ends 21 and 22, as shown.

The support bar 25 constitutes the fixed mounting member for a plurality of identical drop wire feeding magazine units 28, which units constitute an important feature of the machine or invention. Any practical number of units 28 may be incorporated in the machine, and preferably a production machine embodies about eight units 28. Since the feeding magazine units 28 are idena detailed description of one unit will serve to describe all of them.

Accordingly, each unit 23 comprises a supporting bar section 29, mounted rigidly and adjustably upon a pair of screw-threaded elements 30, which in turn are secured to the support bar 25 which is common to the several units 28. Each unit 28 further includes a generally upstanding, although inclined, modified A-f'rame' 31 whose lower end is hingedly secured at 32 to the adjacent bar Section 29. The top e'rid of the A-fra'rrie 31 is freely disposed so that the unit 28 under certain circumstances to be described may swing on the axes of the hinges 32. Normally, the unit 28 is in the inclined position shown in FIGURE 2-. p

Each unit28 further comprises a magazine body 33, FIGURE including 'a bottom plate 34 which is welded or otherwise rigidly secured to crossbraces 35 and 36 of frame 31, see FIGURES 3 and 5. The magazine body 33 further includes a central divider wall 37 rigid with the plate 34 and standing perpendicular thereto and outer side walls 38 which are hinged at 39 to the plate 34, prefer'ably by spring hinges or the like which maintain the side walls 38 closed or in parallelism as depicted in FIG- URES 3 and 5. The purpose of having the magazine side walls 38 hinged is so that they may be swung open to facilitate loading the drop wires in the magazine on opposite sides of the web 37 or wall.

Each unit 28 further comprises power-operated means to feed stacks of drop wires upwardly in the magazine body 33. Such means comprises a small independently operable electric motor 40, dependingly secured to a support plate 41, rigidly secured to a lower crossbrace 42 of frame 31. The motor 40 is connected to drive a sprocket gear 43 carried by a shaft journaled on the plate 41, the sprocket gear being above the support plate. An endless sprocket chain 44 engages the sprocket gear 43 and extends forwardly at right angles to the frame 31 and engages another sprocket gear 45, which may have a hub portion 46 journaled in a bearing extension 47 of a support arm 48, secured rigidly to the crossbrace 42.

The bore of sprocket gear 45, FIGURE 7, receives therethrough loosely an elevator or feed screw shaft 49, which extends through one passage of the magazine body 33 on one side of the divider wall.37 and near the for- Ward open side of the magazine. The screw shaft 49 also extends through a clearance opening 50 in the fixed bearing part 47 of support arm 48 and the screw shaft is movable axially relative to the arm 48 and sprocket gear 45. A two-part spring-closed screw-threaded driving nut 51 has screw-threaded engagement with the shaft 49 immediately above the sprocket gear 45. The nut 51 is caused to turn with the sprocket gear by an upstanding driving pin 52 on the sprocket gear 45 which turns therewith and engages the nut 51 to turn the same, see FIGURE 6. The pin 52 drives the nut 51 in a direction for causing the screw shaft 49 to gradually move upwardly in the magazine body 33 as will be further discussed. The nut 51 forms a clutch or coupling element between sprocket gear 45 and the screw shaft 49. When it is desired to quickly lower the screw shaft 49 relative to the sprocket gear 45, as when reloading the magazine with drop wires, the lever extensions 53 of the nut are merely squeezed together to cause separation of the jaws of the nut and disengagement thereof from the screw shaft. Therefore, the nut constitutes a quickly releasable driving or coupling means between the sprocket gear driven by the motor 40 and the screw shaft 49.

The unit 28 further comprises a smooth elevator rod 54 spaced from and parallel to the screw shaft 49 and coextensive lengthwise therewith. The lower ends of the rods 54 and the screw shaft are rigidly connected by a crosshead 55. Through this crosshead, the rod 54 is actually bodily carried by the screw shaft 49 and the rod 54 moves longitudinally whenever the screw shaft is caused to move. The rod 54 engages through a tubular guide element 56 rigid with the crossbrace 42.

The tops of the screw shaft 49 and rod 54 have elevator heads 57 in the form of square bars rigidly secured thereto by welding or the like at right angles to the screw shaft :and rod. As shown in FIGURE 2, these heads 57 project beyond the forward open side of the magazine body 33 and each is provided near its outer end with an adjusti'rig screw 58, the top of which bears against the bottom of one stack of drop wires 59, either up or down drop wires, as the case may be. The ends of the drop wires remote from the adjusting screws 58 simply rest upon the heads 57 and are held in the passages between the side Walls 38 and the intermediate wall 37 of the magazine body. While only a relatively few of the drop wires are shown in the magazine structure for ease of drawing illustration, it should be readily understood that each magazine body 33 is capable of holding stacks of drop wires of twenty or more inches in depth when the heads 57 are positioned near the extreme bottom of the magazine body.

When each unit 28 is in the normal operating position depicted in FIGURE 2, for example, the upper end portion of the magazine body 33 may simply rest against the horizontal frame bar 23. If preferred, the bar 23 may carry a plurality of adjustable screw stops to be engaged by the magazine body of each unit 28 for supporting the top of each unit in the position shown in FIGURE 2. This is a minor optional feature of the invention, not shown in the present drawings. Additionally, the hinged side walls 38 of each magazine body are preferably provided near their bottoms with adjustable stops 60, adapted to bear against the intermediate wall 37 to limit the closing movement of the side walls 38 and prevent the side walls from binding with the heads 57 or the stacks of drop wires 59 which must be fed upwardly in the magazine body. If desired, additional latch means, not shown in the drawings, may be employed to maintain the side walls 38 of the magazine body in their normally closed parallel positions shown in the drawings.

Each unit 28 is preferably equipped with an independent on and off switch 61 for the independent motor 40. A limit switch 62, such as a microswitch, is mounted on an arm 63, rigidly secured to the adjacent side wall 38 of the magazine body. The limit switch has an actuator arm 64 which overlies one of the stacks 59 of drop wires at the top of the magazine. When the screw shaft 49 elevates the drop wire stacks sufficiently, the switch arm 64 is shifted for opening the switch 62, which in turn interrupts the operation of the motor 40 and stops the upward feeding of drop wires in the particular unit 28 until sufficient drop wires have been removed from the tops of the stacks to require further upward feeding of the drop wires. This prevents overfeeding and spilling of drop wires from the tops of the magazines. When further upward feeding is required, the switch actuator arm 64 will have moved downwardly due to depletion of the stacks and the switch 62 will close to again complete the circuit with the particular motor 40. The electrical wiring is completely conventional and need not be illustrated or described and is omitted from the drawings for the sake of simplicity. Each unit 28 is completely independent in operation, having its own motor 40, as stated, its own off and on switch 61, and its own limit switch 62.

As illustrated particularly in FIGURE 13, each unit 28 may be swung forwardly on its supporting hinge 32 to an inactive position, as when reloading stacks of drop wires into the magazine body 33. When this is done, the independent on and off switch 61 is turned to the off position to stop the motor 40 and associated gearing connected with the screw shaft 49. The side walls 38 of the magazine body may be separated or swung open on their hinges 39 to facilitate the rapid reloading of the magazine with drop wires. A spring latch65 on a main frame bar 66 adjacent each unit 28 engages a small pin 67 on each unit to releasably hold the unit 28 in the inactive position. This is an important feature of the invention in that any particular unit or units 28 of the machine may be rendered idle for reloading or adjustable without interfering with the continued action of the remainder of the machine which includes the additional units 28 and other coacting parts of the machine yet to be described. When a particular unit 28 is in the idle position shown in FIGURE 13, its upper end is fully clear of the oscillating vacuum nozzles, yet to be described, so that these may swing without any interference from the idle unit. FIGURE 13 also illustrates the screw shaft 49 and the elevator heads 57 at a lowered position within the magazine body 33, as when two complete new stacks of up and down drop wires have been introduced into the particular unit 28.

Returning to the machine in its entirety, the several drop Wire feeding magazine units having been fully de scribed, the following components coact with the magazine feeding units 28. An electric motor 68 and attached speed reducer 69, omitted in FIGURE 1 for simplicity, is suitably anchored near the top of frame end 21. The speed reducer 69 has an output shaft carrying a driving sprocket gear 70, FIGURE 2, engaging and driving a chain 71, in turn driving another sprocket gear on a jack shaft 72 held in a suitable bearing 73 on the frame end 21. The jack shaft 72 carries another sprocket gear 74 engaging and driving an endless chain 75 which extends to and engages a sprocket gear 76 on an overhead horizontal rotary shaft 77, journaled in bearings 78 on adjustable support arms 79 at the ends of the main frame, FIGURE 1. In this manner, the rotary jack shaft 72 imparts rotation to the overhead horizontal rotary shaft 77 which extends for the entire length of the main frame as shown in FIG- URE 1.

The support arms 79 are pivoted at 80 intermediate their ends to the frame ends 21 and 22. The lower ends of the arms 79 are pivotally connected at 81 with adjusting turnbuckles 82 which in turn are connected at 83 to the main frame ends. The arms 79 nearest the drive motor 68 carries an idler sprocket gear 84 on an arm extension 85, which idler engages the chain 75 as shown in FIGURE 2. By adjusting the turnbuckle 82 of each arm 79, the position of the overhead shaft 77 can be accurately varied and the overhead shaft can be shifted somewhat toward and away from the tops of the units 28, FIGURE 2.

Mounted upon the top of the main frame 20 just rearwardly of the horizontal bar 23 are bearings 86, supporting rotatably shaft ends 87, 88 of a horizontal vacuum manifold 89 which is rockable or oscillatable relative to the bearings 86. The shaft end 87 carries a slotted crank 90 rigid therewith, connected at 91 to a long link 92, pivotally connected at 93 to a rotating crank arm 94, mounting on and turning with jack shaft 72. Through this linkage, the manifold 89 is caused to oscillate continuously in its bearings 86 when the motor 68 is in operation. Simultaneously, the overhead shaft 77 is caused to rotate when the motor is in operation.

A suitable vacuum pump 95 mounted on a suitable main frame bracket 96 is connected by a hose 97 with the end of shaft end 88 which is tubular. The pump 95 may have its own electric motor and when the pump is operating the interior of manifold 89 is under constant vacuum of the desired magnitude.

The rockable manifold 89 carries a plurality of generally L-shaped vacuum nozzles 98, rigid therewith, corresponding in number and spacing to the magazine units 28. Each nozzle 98 carries a suction head 99 at its leading end and each such head has a pair of slightly stepped flat faces 100 and 101, each having a vacuum slot 102 formed therein and opening therethrough, as shown in the drawings. An important feature resides in the fact that the stepped fiat faces 100 and 101 of each nozzle head are arranged at a slightly different angle to the mouth of the nozzle as clearly depicted in several views of the drawings such as FIGURES 3, 10, a and 11. As will be fully described, these angled flat faces allow a critical crossing an alternating of the up and down drop wires 103 and 104, FIGURE 10a, during the stacking or stringing operation yet to be fully described. As shown in the drawings, the nozzle head faces and 101 face the tops of the stacks of drop wires in the units 28 when the manifold 89 is rocked forwardly, FIGURE 8.

Coacting with each vacuum nozzle 98 in transferring individual pairs of up and down drop wires 103 and 104 from the tops of the units 28 to stacking or stringing bars .105 on the machine are transfer disc devices 106 mounted on the overhead shaft 77 and turning therewith. One of the devices 106 is provided on the shaft 77 for each unit 28 of the machine and each nozzle 98. Each device 106 comprises .a pair of closely spaced discs 107, both rigid with the shaft 77, and each disc of each pair is cut away or notched at 108 for about ninety degrees, FIGURE 8. The shaft 77 and the discs thereon turn in the direction of the arrow in FIG- URE 8. In practice, the discs 107 of each pair may be spaced apart about one-eighth of an inch to accommodate between them the upper end portions of bars 105, which bars are thin blade-like elements. The discs 107 may be about one-quarter of an inch thick or, if preferred, they may be relatively thin although provided with thickened portions 109 at the notches 108 for a pluropose to be explained. As shown, each pair of discs 107 during rotation with shaft 77 straddles one of the relatively stationary stringing bars 105.

The bars are long elements, each capable of bolding a stack of alternated up and down drop wires of about twenty-four inches in depth. The several bars 105 are mounted on the machine for easy removal therefrom after a sufficient number of drop wires have been automatically strung thereon. Each bar 105 has its lower end slotted at 110 to engage removably over horizontal pin elements 111, FIGURE 12, on a rearhorizontal frame bar 112, carried by fixed inclined arms 113, bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the frame ends 21 and 22. The upper tips of the bars 105 are unsupported but the inclined bars are further supported above their lower ends by an adjustable vertically swingable frame 114 pivoted at 115 to the arms 113. The frame 114 is adjusted rearwardly and forwardly on its pivots 115 by additional turnbuckles 116, interconnecting the frame 114 and the main frame 20. As indicated in FIGURES 2 and 12, the frame 114 is notched at 117 adjacent the wardly with respect to the disc devices 106 and the maga These various ad-.

zine units 28 and associated parts. justments are quite essential to the proper operation of the machine and are important features. As indicated in the drawings, the upper ends of string-ing bars 105 are tapered by beveling the forward edges thereof at- 118. The uppermost extremities 119 of the ibars are slender preferably somewhat pointed elements.

Finally, the machine also includes guide elements which coact with the nozzles 98 and disc devices 106 in successfully transferring the up and down drop wires in alternating arrangement from the stacks in the magazine bodies 33 onto the string-ing bars 105. Such means comprises at each unit of the machine a pair of spaced curved adjustable guide fingers or rods 120, each vertically adj-ustably mounted on a separate upright rod 121, these rods in turn secured fixedly to the horizontal frame bar 23 and rising thereabove on opposite sides of each nozzle 98, see FIGURE 1. As shown in this figure, the guide fingers 120 of each pair are preferably at unequal elevations and close to and on opposite sides of the disc device 106. The elements 120 are quite important to the successful transfer of drop wires from the magazine 7 units to the bars 105 and as the drawings show each finger 120 may be independently adjusted up or down on its supporting rod 121 and also may be turned in either direction on the rod 121 and then looked in the selected adjusted position by the screw-threaded connec tions shown. v

The above completes the description of the structural components of the machine and it now remains only to summarize the mode of operation which is depicted in various steps by FIGURES 8 through 11 in particular.

Referring to these figures, after the proper adjustments have been made to arrange the parts approximately as shown in the drawings and after the several magazine units 28 are preferably fully loaded, each with a stack of up drop wires 103 and another stack of down drop wires 104, the following takes place. The motor 68 is started to impart continuous rotation to the shaft 77 and continuous front-to-rear oscillation of the manifold 89 and nozzles 98. At the same time the vacuum pump 95 is started up to supply constant suction of the proper strength to the several nozzles 98 on the oscillating manifold 89. Also the individual motors 40 of the magazine feeding units 28 are started. If desired, by the use of simple conventional wiring, not shown, the several motors may be wired together to be started and stopped in unison :by a main start and stop switch on the machine at a convenient location, not shown in the drawings. If this arrangement is employed, and it need not be unless desired, the individual switches 61 are still effective to stop the individual motors 40 of the units 28 when necessary, without stopping any of the other motors of the machine.

With the machine thus conditioned and in operation, the individual motors 40' and their driven gearing will cause the screw shafts 49 to gradually elevate the stacks of drop wires toward the tops of the magazine bodies 33, as previously explained. The limit switches 62 will automatically stop the individual motors 40, when necessary, to prevent overfeeding of the drop wires upwardly, and the motors 40 will start automatically under influence of the switches 62, as previously explained to maintain the proper feeding of drop wires upwardly in the magazine units.

Referring to FIGURE 8, on each forward stroke of the nozzles 98 with rockable manifold 89, the flat faces 100 and 101 of each nozzle head 99 will engage the uppermost up and down drop wires 103 and 104 in the two stacks on each magazine feeding unit 28. These uppermost drop wires will then be assuming the proper angles by use of the adjustment screws 58 to cause the stepped and angled faces 100 and 101 to have flat abutting engagement therewith, as shown. Consequently, the effective suction acting through the nozzle slots 102, FIGURES 9a and 10a, will enable each nozzle head 99 to lift a single pair of the drop wires from the tops of the stacks and to separate them cleanly from the stacks without disturbing any other drop wire. Proper adjustment of the parts will unfailingly assure this action in the machine. It might be stated here, even though it is thought to be obvious from the drawings and foregoing description that care has been taken when setting up the machine to load each magazine body 33 with one stack of up drop wires 103 and one stack of down drop wires 104. The up drop wires, FIG- URE 9a, have the narrow portions of their keyhole slots 122 facing upwardly whereas the down drop wires 104 have these slots facing in the opposite direction. Both types of drop wires have long slots 123 formed therein of a proper size to engage over the stringing or stacking bars 105 without interference. The slots 123 of both types of drop wires have beveled ends 124, and care is taken when loading the magazine body to have the beveled ends 124 of these slots facing in the same direction.

Returning to the operation of the machine, particularly FIGURES 9 and 9a, the pair of drop wires 103 and 104 toward the adjacent stringing bar 105. During this movement, as shown by FIGURE 9a, the outer side edges of the two drop wires begin to engage the guide fingers 120 and these fingers begin to shift the ends of the two drop wires having the slots 123 into crossed overlapping relation. However, at this time, FIGURES 9 and 9a, the suction slots 102 are still covered by the drop wires and the drop wires are still fully supported by the suction head 99. The stepped and angled relationship of the flat faces and 101 makes possible the unique shifting or crossing of the two drop wires by engagement with the guide fingers 120 during their movement toward the bar 105.

Continued movement of the nozzle head 99, FIGURE 9, brings the pair of drop wires close to and above the upper tip 119 of the bar 105. The guide fingers 120 which converge to the rear have now caused the pair of up and down drop wires to completely cross at their rear ends, FIGURE 10a, so that their slots 123 are in partial registration and ready to receive the upper tip 119 of the below stringing bar 105. This relation is shown clearly in FIGURE 10a. However, at this time, suction continues to hold the two drop wires 103 and 104 on the faces 100 and 101 of the nozzle head.

However, the adjacent disc device 106 has now turned to such an extent that the notch 108 and the thick portions 109 of the two discs 107 are close to the drop wires 103 and 104, FIGURE 10.

When the apparatus reaches the condition shown in FIGURE 11, the disc portions 109 have engaged the tops of the drop wires and have tilted them upwardly on the nozzle head 99 and the suction is broken, and the slotted portions of the two drop wires have now engaged over the tip 119 of bar 105, FIGURE 11. The drop wires are now entirely free of the suction nozzle and free of the guide fingers 120 and also free of the disc device 106. The drop wires now merely gravitate down on the stringing bar until they finally come to rest against the top of frame 114, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 12. The identical action takes place at all units 28 of the machine, unless a particular unit is pulled back to the idle position shown in FIGURE 13 for reloading with more drop wires, as previously explained.

It may now be seen that the machine while operating continually strings on the several bars 105 stacks of loom drop Wires in such a manner that the up and down drop wires 103 and 104 are alternated in the stack as required for use by the drawing-in frame. When a stack of sufficient size, usually twenty-four inches, has accumulated on each bar 105, the machine may be stopped or a particular unit 28 may be stopped and the bar 105 is bodily liftable from its supporting pin 111. The bar with the stack of drop wires thereon is now simply transferred to a packaging table where the stack is carefully removed from the bar and visually inspected by a worker who is skilled in the inspection process. Care is taken to preserve the integrity of the stack and the stack is then suitably packaged for shipment to a mill or the like. The bar 105 or bars is then placed back on the machine and the opera-,

tion may then be repeated. The machine operates rapidly and efficiently and when properly adjusted performs its intended function without error. It is thought that the construction and operation of the machine and the method should now be fully understood by those skilled in the art without the necessity for any further description.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the. subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A method of preparing loom drop wires for subsequent use in a drawing-in frame comprising the steps of lifting by suction a single pair of drop wires from the tops of two stacks of drop wires, one stack containing up drop wires and the other stack containing down drop wires, every drop wire in each stack having a slot, moving the lifted pair of drop wires in one direction toward a stringing device and engaging the drop wires during such movement and gradually shifting their relative positions until their s'lots register, continuing to move the drop wires until their registering slots are aligned with said stringing device and engaging the drop wires to release them from said suction and then allowing the released drop wires to fall freely by gravity onto the stringing device in stacked relation thereon.

2. A machine for stringing up and down drop wires in alternating relation comprising a supporting frame, generally upstanding drop wire stringing bars on said frame, generally upstanding drop wire stack feeding magazine units on said frame in spaced opposed relation to the stringing bars, power-operated means connected with said units to operate the same to cause gradual elevation of said stacks, rockable suction nozzle means on said frame between the tops of said units and the tops of said stringing bars and adapted to lift up and down drop wires from the tops of said stacks and carry them toward the stringing bars, guide means engaging each pair of up and down drop wires during their movement with the suction nozzle means to gradually shift the drop wires into overlapping relationship, said drop wires having slots which then register, and power-operated movable means on said frame engaging each pair of drop wires to release the same from the suction nozzle means, thereby enabling the released drop wires to fall freely onto the stringing bars, the upper ends of the stringing bars being aligned with the registering s'lots when the drop wires are released.

3. A machine for stringing drop wires comprising a supporting frame, a magazine device for stacks of up and down drop wires on said frame, means to gradually feed said stacks upwardly in said magazine device, rockable means on the frame to lift uppermost pairs of up and down drop wires from the tops of said stacks and to convey each lifted pair away from said magazine device, a drop wire stringing bar on said frame in spaced relation to the magazine device and in the path of movement of the rockable means, relatively stationary drop wire engaging guide means on the frame to shift each pair of drop wires into overlapping relation during movement thereof by said rockable means toward said stringing bar, and moving means on said frame adjacent the guide means and stringing bar to effect transfer of each pair of drop wires from the rockable means onto said stringing bar.

4. The invention as defined by claim 3, and wherein the rockable means includes a suction nozzle for lifting and conveying each pair of drop wires, and said moving means comprises a rotary device near the top of the stringing bar adapted to engage said drop wires to separate them from said suction nozzle when the drop wires are aligned with the top of the stringing bar.

5. A machine for stringing loom drop Wires comprising an upstanding supporting frame, an oscillating drop wire lifting and conveying means on the top of said frame which moves back and forth cyclically toward the front and rear of said frame, spaced upstanding stringing bars on the rear of said frame, correspondingly spaced upstanding magazine devices on the front of said frame including means to feed stacks of drop wires upwardly therein, drop wire guiding means on the top of said frame near said lifting and conveying means to engage drop Wires during their movement with the lifting and conveying means, and rotary means on the rear of said frame adjacent the tops of the stringing bars to engage the drop wires on the lifting and conveying means and strip the same therefrom so that the drop wires may fall by gravity onto the stringing bars.

6. In a machine for stringing slotted drop wires, 21 supporting frame, a plurality of generally upstanding magazine feeding units hingedly mounted on the frame and being shiftable bodily between normal active and idle positions, each said unit adapted to feed two stacks of drop wires upwardly gradually, means on each unit to limit said upward feeding and to automatically start and stop the feeding, a movable suction lift means on the frame spanning said units transversely and including a nozzle head adjacent the top of each unit adapted to lift one drop wire from each stack of each unit, a like number of stringing bars on the frame on the side of the suction lift means remote from said units, means connected with said bars to adjust their tops toward and from said units, an overhead rotary shaft extending transversely of said bars near the tops of the bars, power means on the frame to drive the overhead shaft and to oscillate the suction lift means, transfer elements on the overhead shaft to revolve therewith and straddling the tops of the stringing bars, and guide fingers near and above the suction lift means and extending near the transfer elements and coacting therewith and with the nozzle heads to deliver drop wires from the units to the stringing bars.

7. A machine for stringing drop wires comprising a main frame, a magazine frame hinged to the main frame at the lower end of the magazine frame, a magazine body on the magazine frame adapted to hold a stack of up drop wires and a stack of down drop wires, a motor on the magazine frame, gearing driven by the motor, a rotary screw-threaded element driven by the gearing, a feed screw extending longitudinally of the magazine body and driven upwardly therein by the screw-threaded element, a pair of elevator heads associated with the feed screw and supporting the bottoms of the stacks of drop wires in the magazine body, adjusting screws on said heads and engaging the bottoms of said stacks to regulate the angularity of the drop wires, lifting, transferring and guide means for individual pairs of drop wires at the top of the main frame, and stringing means for the drop wires on the main frame at the side thereof remote from said magazine body.

8. The invention as defined by claim 7, and means for releasably securing the magazine frame in an inactive position spaced from the main frame.

9. The invention as defined by claim 7, and wherein the stringing means is a stringing bar bodily detachably mounted on the main frame for quick removal therefrom with drop wires strung thereon.

10. The invention as defined by claim 7, and wherein said rotary screw-threaded element is quickly releasable from said feed screw so that the latter and said elevator heads may be quickly lowered upon the magazine body for reloading of drop wires.

11. The invention as defined by claim 7, and wherein the magazine body comprises an intermediate wall and a pair of hinged side walls on opposite sides of the intermediate wall defining with, the latter a pair of narrow passages for said stacks of drop wires, said elevator heads moving through said passages.

12. The invention as defined by claim 7, and a limit switch on the magazine body adapted to start and stop said motor and including a sensing arm engageable with the top of one drop wire stack.

13. In a machine for stringing drop wires, a magazine feeding unit to feed a stack of up drop wires and a stack of down drop Wires upwardly gradually, means on said unit to regulate the angularity of the drop wires in each stack so that the uppermost drop Wires of the stacks will be disposed relatively at different angles, an oscillating suction lift device adjacent the tops of the drop wire stacks including a nozzle head having stepped nozzle faces arranged at angles corresponding to the angles of the top drop wires in said stacks, said nozzle head having suction openings in said faces, said drop wires adapted to cover said suction openings when initially engaged by said stepped faces whereby the nozzle head may lift the upper- 

3. A MACHINE FOR STRINGING DROP WIRES COMPRISING A SUPPORTING FRAME, A MAGAZINE DEVICE FOR STACKS OF "UP" AND "DOWN" DROP WIRES ON SAID FRAME, MEANS TO GRADUALLY FEED SAID STACKS UPWARDLY IN SAID MAGAZINE DEVICE, ROCKABLE MEANS ON THE FRAME TO LIFT UPPERMOST PAIRS OF "UP" AND "DOWN" DROP WIRES FROM THE TOPS OF SAID STACKS AND TO CONVEY EACH LIFTED PAIR AWAY FORM SAID MAGAZINE DEVICE, A DROP WIRE STRINGING BAR ON SAID FRAME IN SPACED RELATION OF THE MAGAZINE DEVICE AND IN THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF THE ROCKABLE MEANS RELATIVELY STATIONARY DROP WIRE ENGAGING GUIDE MEANS ON THE FRAME TO SHIFT EACH PAIR OF DROP WIRES INTO OVERLAPPING RELATION DURING MOVEMENT THEREOF BY SAID ROCKABLE MEANS TOWARD SAID STRINGING BAR, AND MOVING MEANS ON SAID FRAME ADJACENT THE GUIDE MEANS AND STRINGING BAR TO EFFECT TRANSFER OF EACH PAIR OF DROP WIRES FROM THE ROCKABLE MEANS ONTO SAID STRINGING BAR. 